If last time we took a leap into the future in a dystopian reality with the adventures of Conan, today we take a dip in the past with a simpler but heartfelt story: that of Anna with red hair. Impossible not to know this little girl, whose story today is a real classic. We are in the late 1980s when this anime produced by Nippon animation arrives in Italy, immediately obtaining good ratings. On the other hand, the anime boasts the Isao Takahata region which, about 5 years later he would co-founded Studio Ghibli with his old friend Hayao Miyazaki, as well as with Toshio Suzuki and Yasuyoshi Tokuma. But what is red-haired Anna talking about and why has she been so successful?
Red-haired Anna: the plot
The story of Anna Shirley
"We are at the end of the 19th century when a red-haired girl, sailing from the shores of Canada to Prince Edward Island, dreamed of her future life full of hope." Thus began the Italian version of Anna with red hair, an introduction that sets us in the mood of the story. Our protagonist is Anna Shirley, an 11-year-old girl with a vivid imagination and a loose talk, orphan of both parents. Despite being always cheerful, Anna has a very sad story behind her. Born in Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia, to Walter and Bertha Shirley, high school teachers, she was orphaned a few months after her birth. In fact, her parents die of an infectious disease, and Anna, who has no other relatives, is entrusted to a neighbor without great possibilities and with an often drunk husband. When the latter dies in an accident, Anna is entrusted to Mrs. Hammond, who lives with her husband and her eight children in a shack. The protagonist will take care of the lady's children but, two years later, Mrs. Hammond's husband also dies and Anna is this time entrusted to an orphanage.
Adopted "by mistake" by the Cuthberts
Anna Shirley remains in the orphanage for about four months, until the phone call comes from Marilla e Matthew Cuthbert. They are two elderly brothers, who have no family - neither of them got married - and who have decided to adopt a boy as a helper on their farm. Age advances and Matthew, in particular, has some heart problems, hence the decision to adopt. For a mistake, however, the Green roof house, home of the two brothers, will be sent not a boy but a girl: our Anna. The amazement of both is great: Marilla, in particular, is determined to solve the problem immediately, bringing the child back to the orphanage the next day. During the journey, however, the woman listens to Anna's story and is very touched by it. In the end he decides to keep her with him, to Matthew's great joy, conquered by Anna's cheerfulness from the very first moments.
Diana, Gilbert and the beginning of the school
Living with Anna's exuberance and imagination for the Cuthberts isn't easy at first. The girl still manages to adapt easily to Avonlea's life also thanks to the knowledge of Diana Barry, a girl of her own age with whom a friendship is born that will last over the years. With the arrival of autumn, Anna also begins to attend school. The protagonist is 11 years old but tends to be illiterate, having never been able to attend classes. And if this triggers the first bad moods in the child, the meeting with Gilbert Blythe creates new ones. It is a classmate who is immediately struck by Anna, yet instead of showing her this feeling, he decides to make fun of her about the color of her hair, nicknamed her 'Carrot Pelt'. Her hair is Anna's sore point - she defines them as very ugly for their color - and that's why she takes offense and decides not to talk to him anymore. However, a rivalry based on study arises between them. Anna is eager to learn and does it quickly, often putting Gilbert in trouble, until then the best in class.
Teacher Stacy and Queen's Academy
After the first year with the Cuthberts, many things have changed for Anna with red hair. The relationship with Matthew and Marilla it has grown. The latter, in particular, has now dissolved all reservations for the child and understands that she loves her with all her heart. Meanwhile, a new teacher arrives at school, Muriel Stacy. She is a teacher who will inspire Anna to the point of deciding to follow in her footsteps and become a teacher herself. And as the rivalry in her studies with Gilbert continues to grow, Anna decides to create the "Tale Club"Together with some classmates. During the third school year, the teacher Stacy will propose to the most deserving students of the class to attend an intensive course to prepare for the exams. admission to Queen's Academy. Anna is thrilled but her happiness drops when she discovers that her best friend Diana doesn't want to continue her studies. Therefore, their paths will be destined to separate. At the end of the new school year, the hours spent on books will turn into great satisfaction. Anna, together with Gilbert Blyth, will be first among the students of the whole island of Prince Edward, also gaining access to the Academy.
The hate / love with Gilbert and the drama of Matthew and Marilla
By now our red-haired Anna is no longer a child: she is 15 and graduation time is approaching for her. The constant challenge against Gilbert in the study has been for her, all these years, the trigger to give more and more and finally decide to graduate. He does not know, however, that in all these years he has always been in love with her, despite the fact that she hasn't wanted to have any kind of relationship with him since, as a child, the offense in class. Theirs is a love-hate relationship which, however, will have an unexpected twist in the end. Meanwhile, Marilla fears the moment when Anna will leave the island to continue her studies. Everything changes when Matthew's health problems worsen and the man has a heart attack that alarms Anna at the most difficult moment of her graduation studies. Marilla then lies to her about Matthew and she manages to finish her studies in the best possible way, giving Matthew his last great joy: the girl has won. a scholarship for his very high grades.
The end
After a great joy for Anna comes a great pain: Matthew dies, struck down by a heart attack. At this point, the girl finds herself faced with a decision: to leave Marilla alone to continue her studies or to give it up and stay with her who is now her mother? Affections eventually prevail: Anna decides to give up her scholarship for stay in Avonlea with Marilla. Gilbert, who had given up continuing his studies due to poor financial possibilities, decides to leave Anna her post as teacher in the school of Avonlea. It is with this gesture that red-haired Anna dissolves all reservations about Gilbert: the two finally make peace, resuming that friendship that over time will become something even more important. In the last scene, Anna writes in her diary, recounting the sensations and changes that life has imposed on her in recent times, admitting that she made the right choice. So, looking from the window of the house with the green roof, she concludes: “Finally I can stop here, serene to admire the splendor of the world”.
Red-haired Anna: curiosity
The novel: a true story?
As happened with the previous four stories of the project World Masterpiece Theater by Nippon Animation, also the animated series Anna with red hair is based on a children's novel. This is Anne of Green Gables, of Lucy Maud Montgomery, a Canadian writer who, in part, tells her own story. In Italy, the novel became Anne of Green Gables, then reprinted as Anna with red hair after the success of the anime. Green Gables in Italian then became 'Green roofs'. A detail that makes clear the combination with the house with a green roof in which the protagonist lives with the Cuthberts.
Discount
Red-haired Anna. Ediz. whole wheat
- Montgomery, Lucy Maud (Author)
The case of the name
In Italian she became "Anna" with the final A, but in the original version of the novel - as well as in that of the anime - the protagonist is called "Anne". However, he is keen to make it clear to everyone that he has an "E" at the end of his name, even if it is not pronounced. This emphasis is also repeated in the Italian version of the novel and cartoon, albeit with the "A", therefore adapted to the language. The situation recurs, however, also in the manga drawn by Yumiko Igarashi, published by Planet Manga. This time, however, it is not the final vowel that is highlighted, rather it is played on Anna-Hanna.
Anna's fantasy and evolution
There is a predominant theme in the series, which remains attached to the protagonist from the beginning of the story: that of fantasy. Our red-haired Anna has a very dramatic childhood, yet she comes from the Cuthbert brothers full of hope and joy. Emotions that she managed to safeguard thanks to her imagination, to take refuge in a world that manages to give her important feelings even through a flower or a fictitious name that she would love to have. It is this fantasy, this exuberance that makes Matthew and Marilla fall in love right away. This feeds the girl's dreams and her hopes for the future. Yet, in the evolution of the story, Anna is confronted with reality, often at odds with her dreams. The maturation of the protagonist is evident and very strong, as the ending reveals. In the end, Anna realizes that there is a mediation between dream and reality and that, above all, the greatest gift that life has given her are the affections, that family she has always wanted.
The real Cuthbert farm
La green roof farm of the Cuthbert brothers it really exists. It is a place in the heart of the novel's writer, Lucy Maud Montgomery, who she often visited as a child as the home of her cousins. The house is located in Cavendish, on Prince Edward Island, it belonged to the MacNeill family and is now a popular place for tourists and fans of romance (as well as anime). In fact it was declared a National Historic Site in 1985.
Prequel e remake
The series Anna with red hair was broadcast in Italy for the first time in 1980 on Rai 1 and then repeated several times on Rai 3. On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary, in 2010, a prequel entitled “Smile, Anna“, In which the first years of the protagonist are told, before she was adopted by the Cuthberts. Ten years after the release of the original anime, an animated film arrived, "Red-haired Anna: the road to Green Gables”, Made from the first 100 minutes of the series, which never made it to the cinema. Instead, it was shown many years later in the Ghibli Museum. There is also "Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series”Is a series born in Canada with an educational purpose. Finally, in 2017, the TV series arrived on Netflix "Call me Anna“, Which had 3 seasons and ended in 2020.
The abbreviation
“Anna with red hair goes, flies and goes like a swallow, but she doesn't have a nest, she doesn't have a mother or a father”. Impossible to read this sentence without humming them, on the other hand the theme song of Anna with red hair, even today, is one of the most famous of the 80s cartoons. It is sung by I Ragazzi dai Capelli Rossi with the chorus of Paola Orlandi, on the text by Luigi Albertelli. A theme that has caused much discussion, however, for its similarity to the song Rivers of Babylon by the Melodians.
The characters
Anna Shirley - protagonist of the story, better known as Anna with red hair
Marilla Cuthbert - Matthew's sister, adopts Anna and becomes her tutor and, therefore, mother
Matthew Cuthbert - Anna's guardian, he will be like a father to her
Diana Barry - Anna's best friend
Gilbert Blythe - rival in studies, friend / foe of Anna. A feeling will then arise between them.
Muriel Stacy - teacher and source of inspiration for Anna
Curious to rediscover other stories of 80s anime? After the story of Flo and her Robinson family, we took place between Cursed Springs with Ranma 1 / 2, among the thousand messes of Doraemon e Nobita. We went to the discovery of the human body with 'That's how we are done', and we are passionate about the sporting challenges of Holly and Benji e Mila and Shiro. But also a lot, more!
Anime anna red-haired cartoons Call me Anna Red-haired Anna: Fantasy and a green roof are enough for a new beginning
